Telescope Recommendations

lozenger · 23/11/13 - 04:26

Hi - we've recently had our loft converted and now have a great view of the sky facing N/E through 3 huge roof windows. I would like to get our 11 yr old a decent quality telescope (dont worry, we dont overlook anyone...;))

Any recommendations - budget around £70. I don't know where to start...is that even a reasonable budget? We are not far from Manchester Airport so hopefully can view some aircraft circling as well as the night sky.

[Deleted User] · 23/11/13 - 04:34

Here is a recent thread that may help.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1894744&highlight=telescope

TelevisionUser · 23/11/13 - 04:39

lozenger wrote: »

Hi - we've recently had our loft converted and now have a great view of the sky facing N/E through 3 huge roof windows. I would like to get our 11 yr old a decent quality telescope (dont worry, we dont overlook anyone...;))

Any recommendations - budget around £70. I don't know where to start...is that even a reasonable budget? We are not far from Manchester Airport so hopefully can view some aircraft circling as well as the night sky.

...in which case you might consider a dual use spotting scope on a tripod instead because proper astronomical telescopes produce an inverted image which is not much good for observing terrestrial objects.

Links to look through:
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=68942557
http://www.telescopehouse.com/

albertd · 23/11/13 - 04:54

Unfortunately, NE is not an ideal direction for using low end telescopes because all the interesting stuff (Moon and planets really) are never much above the horizon in that direction and, at some times in the year, are below it. So you are only left with stars which are never more than pinpricks of light of different brightness. You should be able to see some star clusters like The Pleiades though.

lozenger · 23/11/13 - 04:55

Thanks very much for the swift & helpful responses - spotting scope looks like the way to go. I'm off shopping :-)

TelevisionUser · 23/11/13 - 05:01

lozenger wrote: »

Thanks very much for the swift & helpful responses - spotting scope looks like the way to go. I'm off shopping :-)

If you and your son are going to be looking at astronomical objects for a good part of the time then I'd suggest getting an angled spotting scope as it'll save neck strain. Btw, here's a direct telescope image of the Moon just for info - all inverted: http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/032/d/6/moon_shot_with_home_made_pvc_telescope_60mmx900mm_by_colinbm1-d5tfqtj.png

Hey there!

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